Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted movie review -- circus act

Shanee is a screenwriter and educator living in Los Angeles. She created the web series She Blinded Me w Science to encourage young girls to explore science and technology. You can also read her blog where she chronicles her filmmaking ...

Trapeze Americano

The Zoosters are back, only this time they’re on the run through the European Alps, hiding from French animal control and teaching a circus troupe new tricks. This fast and furious romp adds fun new characters while zooming at you in glorious 3D.

Those cheeky penguins, chimps and lemurs! Led by King Julien XIII (Sacha Baron Cohen) they somehow manage to get out of Africa and make it all the way to Monte Carlo. Calculating on abacuses, they win big at roulette and break the bank.

Once there, chaos breaks out garnering the attention of one French animal control officer named Capitaine Chantel DuBois (Frances McDormand), who literally follows the animals’ scent by sniffing the ground. While she legitimately wants to protect her ritzy city from wild beasts, she has a more sinister motive -- to hang Alex’s head on her wall of hunting trophies.

After a wild car/scooter chase through Monte Carlo, the Madagascarians hop on a train only to discover its also full of animals -- the circus kind.

The Zoosters convince them that they are also “Circus” and that Alex is famous for something called the "Trapeze Americano," which sounds more like a latte from Starbucks than a circus act.

Madagascar 3 is at its best when the Zoosters are running from the truly despicable villain Capitaine Chantal and when King Julien falls in love with the voluptuous drooling, dancing bear. The movie has plenty of clever jokes that play to both kids and parents, my favorite being Vitaly’s angry declaration of “That’s Bulshevik!”

Bottom line: Madagascar 3 provides plenty of bang for your buck by adding fun, original new characters and holding true to the solid humor the franchise is known for. In 3D with ultra-quick pacing, surely your youngsters will delight in this mega blitz of digital glitz.